Tuesday, July 28, 2009

What really happens on the other side of the border

When I lived in Germany for two years (back when the Berlin Wall came down) I wasn't as politically aware or involved as I am now. I had no idea there were such groups as Democrats Abroad (or even the GOP equivalent). In addition to making sure members vote in national elections (the expat vote can be significant in some states), members of DA provide another useful service -- let party officials know what things are really like in other countries.

The relevant subject of the moment is health care. In my time in Germany I didn't deal with the national system, the couple times I needed a doctor I saw one employed by my company to take care of the many foreign service employees there.

A common tactic in the current debate is to demonize health systems in other countries, especially the Canadian system, but DA members can say, nope, this is what it's really like to live under the care of another country. Here are some key points from a report from Canada.
* It's less expensive. They don't have to pay insurance companies.
* There is no government official between you and your doctor.
* It's user friendly -- no forms, no copay math, no threat of bankruptcy, no threat of loss of coverage when losing a job. That lack of stress is a health benefit.
* Employers don't carry the burden of paying for insurance, important when small businesses are needed to drive an economic recover.

Most Canadians see their health system is a key benefit of living there.

Citizens of other countries are also touting the care they get at home, knowing they would have died or faced bankruptcy in America. They are stepping forward to counteract the bad name the GOP (and others) are giving their countries. They are annoyed with the fictional stories being used to create that bad name. It seems the GOP and health insurers are willing to sacrifice 22,000 lives a year for profits. If that happened somewhere else we'd start talking about genocide. It is good to hear both the GOP and insurers have very little credibility with voters.

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